Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

It is an ongoing issue to try to improve the gender balance on State boards. I acknowledge that the broad social partnership process has improved on this in recent years. The percentage is far higher than it was. In the cases of NESC, the National and Economic Social Forum, NESF, the National Centre for Partnership and Performance, NCCP, which are all under my Department, the gender balance ratio is about 60:40. It is always a battle to get the nominating bodies to ensure they take gender into account. In some other boards, it has improved substantially and is still improving. However, it will never be perfect unless continual pressure is put on. In most nominating bodies, the ratio is higher.

On the issue of governance, there are strict corporate governance rules, codes, audit rules and various procedures with which people on boards must comply. They are even tighter in respect of commercial State bodies under company law legislation. Boards are all subject to strict scrutiny and must comply with statutory and non-statutory codes that have been changed many times in the past ten years, always making the requirements tighter.

Under my aegis competent, capable and efficient people who have done an excellent job have been appointed to boards, but the process in respect of all of the bodies under my aegis is enormously transparent and open, possibly with the exception of the Law Reform Commission, membership of which requires expertise. One cannot be a commissioner without the relevant years of experience in the legal profession. The other bodies are open to the nominating bodies and people are normally picked by the national officers of the organisations for participation on the boards. This provides an open field and a large number of people from which to pick and has continually strengthened people's participation on the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, and the other bodies involved. I do not have the number of people on the NESC, but the ratio on most of the bodies is 60:40, more or less, according to the last figures I saw. Gender is an ongoing issue, but it has generally improved a great deal across boards in the past five years.

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